Since the early 1990s, the majority of school-aged children in Texas have been non-White. The 1995 Texas legislature authorized the use of cumulative voting in school districts as a result of lawsuits prompted by the underrepresentation of minority groups on school boards. In cumulative voting, each voter has a number of votes equal to the number of positions to be filled at the election. Voters may concentrate their votes on a single candidate or distribute them among all candidates as desired. Communities are thus able to retain election at-large for school board members, while improving opportunities for minority representation. Interviews were conducted with superintendents and board members in four rural and small school districts that recently introduced cumulative voting. The districts were Central Texas Consolidated Independent School District, Salt Independent School District, and Double Mountain Independent School District in Texas, and Lee Municipal School District in eastern New Mexico. The districts had minority enrollments of 44-72 percent, primarily Hispanic students. The interviews revealed that although cumulative voting was preferred, it has had limited impact on the ethnic composition of school boards; minority board members quickly became integrated into the board; with the exception of a few identifiable minority issues, minority board members viewed board issues from a community perspective; and cumulative voting has not improved interracial and interethnic relations. It is too early to say what the long-term impact, if any, of cumulative voting will be. Contains 14 references. (TD)